With only a few weeks left of this semester, I am going through a whirlwind of emotions with tons of reflection on my past few years here at UCF. Through this reflection, I have kept in mind the many questions I have had to sort through, especially this past year as a junior. These are my questions, as told by SNL gifs.
1. “I’m only halfway through college?”
Freshmen year was a whirlwind of emotions. The excitement of going to college, the fear of going to college, all the struggles and tears and laughter and endless fun were all extraordinary because it was just the beginning. Then sophomore year, and you felt somewhat like a master of college. You experienced a lot, had a little bit more wisdom, and you were finally comfortable with where life was taking you. But then here comes junior year of college and you’re like “wait a minute, I have to do that all again?” Basically, junior year becomes the second freshmen year, and you’re back t square one with trying to figure out life, but on a whole other level.
2. “If I haven’t experienced college by now, am I too late?”
As a student trying to achieve so many different things, life can get away from you and like many of us, we feel like we haven’t done enough starting junior year. You question if all the job applications, social events, honor societies, football games have given you a true college experience. But what is a true college experience, at this point you’re not even sure.
3. “How do I have enough time to do everything I want to do?”
Time is running away, never stopping and never blinking as you beg it to stop or slow down. But it is okay, because like you’ve discovered in the first point, you’re only halfway there, and you can start over your college cycle by throwing yourself into many more things.
4. “How many coffees can I drink until I overdose on it?”
Throwing yourself into even more things, coffee, tea, or lots of candy is going to have to become your fuel. I fuel myself on tea and if I don’t have tea throughout the day, I am useless. Between school, work, social events, sporting events, hanging with friends, catching up with family, working out, and trying to figure out life, there’s nothing like 5 cups of tea or vanilla iced coffees to get you through it.
5. “Can the endless emails about future planning go away?”
Yes, all universities think it is smart to overwhelm an overwhelmed student with overwhelming emails at an overwhelming rate of three per day. Reminders to apply for scholarships, notices of deadlines, posted new internships and jobs are all the emails I seem to get this junior year, and I feel like the more I get, the more I do not know what to do with them.
6. “Wait what is an internship?”
Like the internship ones are probably the most terrifying to get. Yes, I get excited that I am on a list that gets automatically emailed about furthering futures. But then more questions come along. How? When? What? How can I get that internship? When do I do everything? What am I doing? Yes, so many questions, so many hidden answers.
7. “Are my parents conspiring with the administration against me?”
My answer is simple- half the time I think my parents and my university’s administration had a meeting where they came up with a general plan to not only coddle me and tell me everything is going to work but then to just scare the goosebumps out of me and shove me into the real world. One minute I am told I am the right track, the next my train gets derailed and I end up in Mexico instead of Mississippi. But in the end, after all of my little worries and endless questions, my answer always turns out more positive than negative. I conclude that my parents and administration may have conspired together, but they conspired to give me the best opportunities as a college student.
8. “When did senior year decide to show up so fast?”
So as my junior year starts to close up, senior year begins to creep up. But after the excitement I experienced freshmen year, the wisdom I gained sophomore year, and the solid slap in the face by junior year, I think I am somewhat ready for senior year.
9. “Can I just stay in college forever?”
“And even if I feel ready, I don’t think I’ll be ready to leave college. It has taught me so much, given me so much, and blessed me with so much. From realistic life lessons to memorable memories, my real and only question I have now is if I can stay here forever.
